reddawnwwiiifandomcom-20200213-history
NATO and WEU military operation in Eastern Europe 1990 to today
United Nations Mission in Croatia: Operation Hyllus: Operation Hyllus was a WEU operation that existed from December 19, 1989 to January 1, 1996. At its height, Operation Hyllus involved troops from all European Union member states and numbered some 20.000 troops in total. From 1989 to 1996 Operation Hyllus was fully integrated with the United Nations Mission in Croatia (UNMICRO) structure. United Nations Mission in Slovenia: Operation Anicetus: Operation Anicetus was a WEU operation that existed from December 19, 1989 to January 1, 1994. At its height, Operation Anicetus involved troops from all European Union member states and numbered some 10.000 troops in total. From 1989 to 1994 Operation Anicetus was fully integrated with the United Nations Mission in Slovenia (UNMIS) structure. United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Operation Alexiares: Operation Telephos is a WEU operation that began on December 19, 1989. At its height, Operation Alexiares involved troops from all European Union member states and numbered some 80.000 troops in total. From 1989 to 2000 Operation Alexiares was fully integrated with the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) structure. United Nations Mission in Kosovo: Operation Telephos: Operation Telephos is an WEU operation that began on December 19, 1989. At its height, Operation Telephos involved troops from all European Union member states and numbered some 45.000 troops in total. From 1989 to 2002 Operation Telephos was fully integrated with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) structure. United Nations Mission in the Ukraine: The United Nations Mission in the Ukraine was a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Ukraine during the Ukrainian Civil War. It existed from December 7, 1990 to January 1, 2001. At its height, UNMU involved troops from 38 countries and numbered some 400.000 troops in total. Much of the initial composition of the United Nations Mission in the Ukraine consisted of units which had been part of Operation Hussar. UNMU's initial mandate was: - to bring an end to all military action and the immediate termination of violence and repressive activities - to protect the demilitarised United Nations Protected Areas - to establish and maintain a secure environment in all of the Ukraine - to support the international humanitarian effort - to coordinate with and support the international civil presence The mandate was later expanded: - assistance with the return or relocation of displaced persons and refugees - reconstruction and explosive ordnance disposal - medical assistance - security and public order - security of ethnic minorities - border security - inderdiction of cross-border weapons smuggling - weapons destruction - support for the establishment of civilian institutions, law and order, the judicial and penal system, the electoral process and other aspects of the political, economic and social life The UNMU was structured in three Multinational Commands and 26 Regional Commands and 505 Multinational Task Forces. December 1990 - January 1992 By the end of its first mandate in January 1992, UNMU had had some success in restoring peace in the Ukraine. More than sixteen United Nations Protected Areas had been established providing safety to more than five million people and both sides' operational freedom was severely restricted. However ethnic cleansing and skirmishes between Ukrainian secessionist forces and the Russian military were still present. Even though the land and sea border was controlled by the United Nations Mission in the Ukraine the Soviet Union and the Russian Republic continued to supply their forces and allies in the Ukraine and the Ukrainian secessionists were able to buy military hardware on the international black market. Several protected areas were besieged by both sides. On August 22, 1991 the port city of Skadovsk was attacked with artillery shells containing the chemical agent Soman. More than 3.000 refugees waiting to be evacuated and local residents were killed. January 1992 - January 1993 During the year 1992 the Soviet military presence in the Ukraine had to be reduced after the oil and gas fields in the Caspian Sea and Central Asia had come under attack from Islamist insurgents and tensions between the Soviet Union and the two most powerful breakaway republics - the Russian Republic and the Far Eastern Republic - mounted. On February 6, 1992 new tensions arose following the Russian Republic's armed forces incursion into the Ukraine and occupying land east of the Donets river. The Russian Republic was forced to withdraw its forces by August 12, 1992 after the United Nations threatened to use force against the Russian Republic's presence in the Ukraine. However during the six months of occupation Russian nationalists conducted a campaign of ethnic cleansing and terror against Soviet and Ukrainian sympathisers despite of the presence of the United Nations Mission in the Ukraine. This forced thousands of Ukrainian refugees to flee to the Kharkiv Protected Area near the town of Starobilsk which was soon besieged by Russian nationalists. The United Nations Mission in the Ukraine deployed additional forces into the occupied territory and was able to open up a security corridor to Starobilsk. Humanitarian convoys and the UN outposts which were placed along the security corrdior came under repeated attacks by aircraft, artillery, infantry and tanks. At the end of the year, the warring parties attempted to come to a cease-fire, but the truce was broken only three days later when two Ukrainian Mil Mi-24 helicopter attacked Russian nationalist forces bivouacing northeast of Odessa. January 1993 - January 1994 On March 3, 1993 a cease-fire was brokered between Russiand and Ukrainian forces - the Charleston Agreement - which ended their years long war. Shortly after the cease-fire between Russian and Ukrainian forces, the Russian Republic's armed forces launched an attack against Soviet forces in South Russian thus separating the Soviet held territory in the Ukraine from its territory east of the Ural. Within weeks the Soviet forces in the Ukraine were completely isolated. During 1993 UNMU troops in the Ukraine came under increased military attacks, resulting in several engagements with Soviet forces. January 1994 - January 1995 By February 1994 the Soviet forces in the Ukraine begun running out of men and materiel. The Soviet forces were ordered to use captured UN troops as human shields and two Soviet Fast Attack Craft operating out of Sevastopol were able to damage two European warships patrolling in Ukrainian waters. Finally a series of coordinated offensives against Soviet forces led to a decisive Ukrainian and Russian victory. The Soviet Union was forced to accept the United Nations brokered peace agreement - the Istanbul Agreement - und withdraw from Ukrainian territory. The Istanbul Agreement The Ukraine was divided into the Ukrainian Kiev Republic, the Odessa Republic, Crimean Republic and the Donetsk Republic and a United Nations Administration was placed in charge of the whole country. All four republics were allowed to maintain standing militaries with the United Nations Mission in the Ukraine in control over the weapons. The Athens Agreement In 2001 the United Nations decided to end the Administration of the Ukraine's (UNAU) mandate and transferred full sovereignty to the Presidential Council of the former Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Following two months of negotiations Russians and Ukrainians agreed to peacefully dissolve the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The Crimean Republic voted in a referendum to be annexed by the Russian Republic, while the Ukrainian Kiev Republic, the Odessa Republic and the Donetsk Republic would form the Federative Republic of the Ukraine consisting of 21 Oblasts and two Autonomous Republics - the Automous Republics of Odessa and Donetsk. The mandate of the United Nations Mission in the Ukraine was ended and instead the European Union took the full responsibility of ensuring a safe and stable environemnt. Operation Artemis: Operation Artemis is an WEU operation that began on December 7, 1990 succeeding Operation Hussar. At its height, Operation Artemis involved troops from all European Union member states and numbered some 200.000 troops in total. From 1990 to 2001 Operation Artemis was fully integrated with the United Nations Mission in the Ukraine (UNMU) structure. United Nations Mission in Moldova: Operation Althea: Operation Althea was an WEU operation that existed from October, 30 1991 to January 1, 1996. At its height, Operation Althea involved troops from all European Union member states and numbered some 20.000 troops in total. From 1991 to 1996 Operation Althea was fully integrated with the United Nations Mission in Moldova (UNMIM) structure. Other Operations: - Albania (1992, 1997) - Armenia (1993, 1997, 2004) - Azerbaijan (1993, 1997, 2004) - Chechnya (2001) - Dagestan (1998) - Estonia (1991) - Georgia (1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2002) - Macedonia (1991, 1993, 1995, 1999) - Russia (2000)